A Thousand Years: A Frozen Tale (Adventures of John AU)
by John The Adventurer
Summary: There are many different possibilities for our lives, countless universes where things are different, for better or for worse. Some worlds are rife with magic and adventure, others not so much. I have taken a glimpse at a few of these other realities. This is the tale of two people with extraordinary abilities and how they came together. Well, this version of them anyway.
1. Introduction

**A Thousand Years: A Frozen Tale**

 **Introduction**

Hello everyone! I haven't had much time to write recently, so I decided to give you guys a something to read while I take the time necessary to finish up the Adventures of John. While I was gone those two years, I had an opportunity to look into a few other worlds, including some that showed me how my own life would have been different had certain things happened differently. I tried to write down the things I saw, using a pen and notebook, but there was only one world that I saw about which I wrote down a finished story. So, since transcribing what I have already written onto the computer is faster than writing from scratch, in these times that I don't have enough time to get any real amount of writing done, I will tell you the tale of another world. Another me. Another Elsa. A world in which things happened very differently, but if there is one thing that I have learned, it is that no matter what universe you are in, love finds a way.

For those of you new to my stories, this is an AU of my ongoing series The Adventures of John, detailing the exploits of a daring, and sometimes prideful hero who has both saved the universe on various occasions and nearly been the cause for its destruction during a few of those same occasions. That hero also happens to be me! It's a long story, but the short version is that magic is real, but our universe doesn't have a lot of it left. So I cheated and found a way to open a portal to another universe. Since then my life has been a series of cosmic disasters, but along the way I fell in love and gained many amazing friends. My adventures are coming to a close, but we never know what can happen. The multiverse is a big place, after all.


	2. Chapter 1

**A Thousand Years: A Frozen Tale**

 **Chapter 1**

"Fear will be your enemy."

Elsa slept alone in her new room, a room that was so much emptier without Anna in it. The eight year old slept fitfully, her rest disturbed by dreams. She was in the palace ballroom, playing with Anna, and everything was going perfectly. They were having fun, and nothing was wrong. They slid across the ice, jumped into piles of snow, and built snowmen together. They laughed and sang and everything was just how it was supposed to be, like it used to be. It was like that horrible incident had never happened. And then it happened again.

They were playing, and Anna began to jump from snow pile to snow pile, each one higher and more dangerous. Fear rose in Elsa's chest, filling her with terror. "Anna, slow down!" But the five year old didn't listen. Elsa slipped on the ice, and a blast of cold hit Anna and she went tumbling to the ground. "No!" Elsa ran to her sister, cradling her in her little arms. "Anna, I'm so sorry!" She started to cry. She tried to calm herself down, telling herself that everything would be alright. Any moment now their parents would rush in and take Anna to the trolls to fix her.

But they didn't come. Horror gripped the little girl as the band of white in Anna's hair spread, and her skin began to ice over. "No! Anna!" Elsa cradled her sister closer, but she could do nothing as the smaller child turned into ice. "No!"

Elsa woke up, jerking upright in her bed. She was breathing heavily, gripped with terror before realizing that she was in her room. She had been sleeping. Anna was fine. She was safe, even if Elsa couldn't be with her.

Elsa rubbed her eyes and steadied her breath, looking around her room sleepily. There was a rustling sound, and she squinted through the darkness, trying to discover its origin. The sound came again, louder this time, and not believing her ears, Elsa turned to look over at the fireplace. Why would the sound be coming from her fireplace?

Suddenly a cloud of ash and soot exploded out of the fireplace, along with something else. It rolled out and stood up, revealing itself to be a man. The man was covered in soot, but that did not hide the blood red hue of his hooded cloak, nor the dull golden gleam of his armor. He glanced around the room for a moment and turned and saw her, his eyes beneath his hood widening in surprise.

"Oh." He pulled down his hood, revealing a handsome, youthful, soot-covered face. "Um... Hi."

...

John was on the hunt. He had chased this beast across time and through various worlds, and he wasn't going to let it escape his grasp again. Kathool was an ancient beast, older than time itself. It's very existence was causing rifts, tears in the fabric of the universe that were tearing the worlds apart. A remnant of a previous universe, the beast had power to break the minds of the weak, and even the minds of the strong-willed were not free from its influence. Its power reached far, and John was not going to allow Kathool to harm yet more innocent people.

John had faced terrible things before. He had faced beings of pure darkness and slain gods. He had traveled across time and to dozens of worlds and alternate dimensions. Yet no matter what he did, he always was faced with a new threat, a new catastrophic danger, and now it was Kathool that was endangering the universe. He wouldn't let that happen, not after all he had done to keep it safe.

He materialized in the air above an immense expanse of water, hovering there expectantly. The night air was silent, the moon and stars reflecting off the nearly still water. Then the water exploded into motion, slimy tentacles streaking towards him. John pulled a flaming sword out of the air, the crimson fire lighting up the night as he slashed at the tentacles, clouds of steam hissing out each time his blade connected with a grimy appendage.

Then the body of the beast rose out of the waves, massive glassy eyes blinking up at him above a powerful snapping beak. _Your will is mine._ The touch of the ancient evil's mind was like oil, black and slick, and filled with madness, twisted and broken. Even the barest touch of that alien mind was almost enough to drive John mad. But he had taken on worse before, and those had not broken him, and neither would this. _Surrender your mind to me. Let the madness consume you._

 ** _No._** John thrust Kathool's mind away, sending a blast of pain through the mental connection. The beast screamed in torment, a horrid, unearthly sound that made John clutch his head as his ears began to bleed. Kathool lashed out in the air around them, the power within its tentacles tearing open a rift, a hole in the fabric of the universe. The beast withdrew from his mind, a blast of energy exploding from it that caught the stunned Adventurer off guard, shooting John off and out through the rift. John saw the rift and tried to stop himself, but it was too late. Kathool's laugh rang through his mind as he fell through the rift and vanished.

John appeared on the other side of the rift, high above a city down below. He fell through the air, trying to get his bearings, but the grimy residue of Kathool's mental touch kept him from thinking straight. He took what little focus he had and focused it on slowing his descent, and soon the rapid free fall slowed to a more gradual drop. He looked down and saw that he was coming up on some sort of palace, so he readied himself, tucking into a roll as he hit the roof, coming back up to his feet, only to trip over the edge of a chimney and bang his head on the other edge before falling down the shoot.

He tumbled and bumbled his way down the chimney, his crimson cloak and golden armor quickly becoming covered in soot while his exposed face received several burning scrapes and his body got various hits that he was certain would be bruises the next day. After several painful moments of this he finally tumbled out of the fireplace, rolling out in an explosion of ash and soot. John stood up and looked around him, finding himself in what appeared to be a bedroom. Based on the decor, a child's bedroom. He turned around and saw, staring at him from under the sheets of her bed, a little girl.

"Oh," he said, not sure how to react. He pulled down his hood, hoping that a friendly face would have a smaller chance of frightening the little girl than a dark, shadowy hood. "Um... Hi."

...

Elsa stared at him, frozen somewhere between confusion and surprise. The shock of the situation kept her from knowing what emotion to have. She stared at him, puzzled at his sudden appearance more than anything else. Then the strange man took a step forward and she immediately cringed, jerking away. "It's alright," he assured her, holding his hands up so that she could see that they were empty. "I'm not going to hurt you." He took another step forward and she backed away, fear evident in her face.

"Please, stay away," she begged him. "I don't want to hurt you." The dream flashed through her mind, and frost began to spread across the blankets directly around her.

"Hurt me?" the man asked, incredulous. "You aren't going to hurt me." He then saw the ice spreading out from the little girl, glanced at her terrified face, and it clicked. "It's alright," he repeated, not moving forward but also not backing off. "You don't need to be afraid."

"You aren't scared?" she asked, the spreading ice pausing as puzzlement overpowered fear. He could see the ice, but he wasn't even so much as backing away. He didn't even seem shocked at it. Why wasn't he scared?

"No, I'm not scared," he answered. "I'm like you." He held out his hand and a flame appeared over his open palm, dancing and flickering brightly. Elsa stared at the flame, mesmerized. Someone like her? She hadn't even imagined the possibility. She thought she was the only one. "You don't have to be afraid," he told her, extinguishing the flame but still holding his hand out, his eyes kind and gentle. "Let me show you."

Terror gripped little Elsa and the ice spread swiftly, soon covering half the room. However, none of it reached the man. The ice stopped several inches from his feet, unable to go any further in that direction. A flicker of hope rising within her, Elsa crawled out of her bed and began to move forwards. The ice continued to spread around her, but when she took his hand she felt a surge of warmth, and then she was standing there with him, no ice around her. "You stopped it," she whispered, unable to believe it as she stared at her hands. "How?"

"Magic," he replied simply, grinning at her as he kneeled down to speak to her face-to-face. "I'm like you. You don't have to worry around me."

"So you can fix it?" she asked hopefully. "You can take it away? Make it so that I can't hurt anybody else?" She imagined what it would be like to be able to play with her sister again, to run around and have fun without worrying about her powers. She could be free from the fear.

But her hopes were dashed as his face fell. "Your powers aren't something to be afraid of. They are beautiful. The only reason why you can't control them is because you are so afraid of them."

"But Papa says that I need to, 'conceal it, don't feel it,'" she recited quickly.

The man sighed. "What is your name?"

"Princess Elsa of Arendelle."

...

John paused for a moment, thinking that over. He hadn't realized he had been talking to a princess. He supposed that made sense, but in the end it didn't really matter. This little girl was terrified. She had powers that she didn't know how to control, and she was scared. She needed to be reassured, she needed to know that there was nothing wrong with her. It didn't seem like her parents were doing a very good job of that, so it fell to him. He knew what it felt like to be in her situation. Scared, not knowing what is happening, not sure whether or not you were sane, thinking that something was wrong with you because you were different from everyone else, he had felt it all himself when he first got his powers. He didn't want to let this girl suffer the way he had.

"Well Elsa, that definitely sounds like a name for a princess. It's nice to meet you Elsa. I'm John, and I came here to help you. You see, I go all around, and I try to help people in any way I can, and I knew that you could use some help."

"Really?"

"Really really. Now then Little Princess, why don't we try something?" He focused his energies and pulled a single white rose out of the air. The bud was in full bloom, the flower perfect and pristine. "You see this rose? It is beautiful, but it has thorns. If you hold it wrong and clench it too tight, your hand will get pricked by the thorns. But if you hold it gently, like I am now, there is no danger, and you can admire the rose's beauty. Would you like to hold it?"

Elsa nodded hesitantly, and he handed it to her. She took it softly in her little hands, careful not to touch any of the thorns. "See?" John inquired. "Your powers are like this rose. They aren't something to be afraid of. They are beautiful, and they are a part of you. They don't make you a monster, they make you beautiful."

"But what if I hurt somebody?" There was a tremor in her voice, John could only guess that it was from a previous painful experience with her powers. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"That is why you need to be gentle," he told her softly. "Like this rose, your powers can hurt people, but only if you clench too tight. Fear is what makes it hard to control your magic. You can do beautiful things, if only you let go of your fear. Let me show you." John concentrated on the nullification field he had created around himself to keep her power at bay and removed it from the area where Elsa was standing with the rose. Interestingly, no ice spread from the princess this time. "I want you to use your powers on that rose."

"Why?" she glanced at the rose and then back at him.

"You'll see," he answered. "Just close your eyes, and gently extend your power to the rose."

She nodded, trusting him, and slowly began to take off her gloves, closing her eyes as she touched the rose with her fingertips. After a second frost began to creep over the rose, until the flower was covered in a thin layer of sparkling ice. When she opened her eyes she gasped, staring at the result. The beauty of the flower was not lessened, but enhanced, the ice making it sparkle in the dim light as she twirled it in her fingers. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

"And it will never wilt or die," John added. "As long as the frost remains, the rose will remain as it is. Do you see? Your powers don't have to be something to be afraid of. They are beautiful and wonderful, and so are you."

Just then he sensed another rift opening, more evidence of Kathool's tampering. _Not now!_ He cursed inwardly. He was caught between helping this little girl with her power, and stopping Kathool from tearing time apart. He wanted to help Elsa, but if Kathool wasn't stopped, it wouldn't matter, because the very fabric of the universe would be torn apart, and Kathool's twisted mind would rule over what remained.

He gripped her shoulders lightly, her eyes full of emotion, fear mingling with hope. He stared into her sapphire orbs, his own golden eyes full of gentleness and caring. "I have to go," to told her softly.

"But what will I do when you are gone?" she asked, fear gripping her once more. "How will I control it?"

John sighed. "You don't need me here for you to control it. I want you to remember what I have told you and shown you. You don't have to be afraid, not of your powers, and not of yourself."

"Do you have to go?" her quivering voice and wide eyes begged him to stay. She had only just met him, but around him she felt safe, she felt free. She didn't want that to go.

"I must," he replied. "Always remember, there is nothing wrong with you. Sleep well, Little Princess." With that he stood up and walked to the window, taking the last few steps at a run and jumping out. Elsa gasped and ran to the window, just in time to see John fly through a rift in the air which closed behind him, the cloaked Adventurer falling into another world entirely.

...

Elsa stared out the window for several moments at the place where John had vanished. It was like he had never been there at all. She could almost believe that it had all been a dream. After all, he had appeared out of nowhere and vanished out to nowhere as well. But the rose in her hand and the circle of unfrozen ground spoke otherwise. She cradled the frosted rose gently, knowing that it was all she had to remember the strange and wonderful man who had fallen out of her fireplace and been the first person in forever to tell her that she didn't have to be afraid.


	3. Chapter 2

**A Thousand Years: A Frozen Tale**

 **Chapter 2**

"No, stay away! I don't want to hurt you!"

John hated the ocean. The taste of salt, the slimy sea plants, the sand that got into everything, he just didn't like it. He liked it even less when he was several thousand miles beneath the surface. Sure, his magic allowed him to hold off the immense pressure, provide oxygen for himself, and see through the briny depths, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. His hunt for Kathool had taken him to the heart of the beast's realm, into the darkest depths of the ocean, where madness reigns. Here Kathool would be at its most powerful, but John didn't have time to wait for the beast to reveal itself. He needed to defeat Kathool before time ran out for everyone.

Suddenly the water around him was in violent motion, and he conjured an orb of light to reveal the threat. All around him were dozens of creatures, appearing to be some horrendous mutated combination of man, squid, crab, and coral. Kathool's twisted servants, those who had fallen to its mania and become monsters of madness. Where these things were, their master could not be far. Kathool knew these minions could not stop John, but that wasn't what it wanted. It wanted to delay him, to keep him from stopping it. Kathool would play mind games for eternity, but he didn't have time for Kathool's games.

The deep erupted into steam as fire poured out from John in waves, the water miles around superheated by the infernal assault. The Kathool Adepts screamed in torment, boiled within seconds of the attack. Countless other sea life was killed as well, but John was not in the right mindset to care. Kathool would die, even if John had to boil the oceans of a dozen worlds.

 _Such rage, Adventurer._ A twisted, mocking voice sounded within his mind. _And you call me mad._

"Face me, coward!" John shouted back, blazing with rage. "You have had your fun, twisting the minds of the weak willed. Are you afraid of a real challenge, ancient one?!"

 _A challenge?_ Kathool laughed. _You are barely more than a plaything!_ A massive tentacle streaked through the water towards John, knocking him off his feet. The waters rushed in around him, and he had to swiftly conjure another force field before the deep-sea pressure crushed him.

"For something so old, you sure don't know much," John countered, blades of light cutting through the waves and slashing apart the beast's tentacles. "I am John the Adventure. I have traveled across time and to thousands of worlds, and I have battled evils greater than you. You say that I am little more than a plaything? I say that you are little more than an annoyance." The deep boiled once more as John bombarded Kathool with heat, the beast's flesh cooking. Kathool screeched, but John was prepared this time, and the sound did not phase him. He blasted the creature again and again, chunks of cooked meat flying off.

 _Enough!_ Kathool cried, the mental shout filled with pain. _Enough!_

"No. It will not be enough until the worlds are safe from your madness." John conjured a spear of lightning and leaped, flying through the water and plunged the electrified spear through the beast's flesh. Kathool cried out, the cry sounding through the deep. It lashed out with its remaining tentacles, one of the tentacles tearing open a rift. The rift began to create suction, the water being pulled out the rift, quickly creating a powerful vortex. John resisted its pull, focusing on keeping from being sucked out. Seeing its chance, Kathool blasted John into the vortex, knocking him off his feet and sending him spinning through the rift.

...

Elsa kept a brave face as her parents left the room, but as soon as the door closed she ran to her bed and burst into tears, hiding her face in her gloved hands. Her room was almost completely covered in ice, the leftovers of her failed attempt at controlling her powers. Her mom and dad meant the best, but it wasn't working. She just couldn't do it. She couldn't control it.

She sobbed for several moments, letting out all the pain, guilt and fear. The room iced over even more, but eventually her sobs slowed and her breathing steadied. She didn't really feel any better, but in the past while she had cried so much that it didn't feel like she had any tears left to cry. Then her thoughts drifted over to object hidden beneath her bed. Wiping away the tears on her cheeks, she crawled under her bed and pulled out a single white rose, covered in a thin layer of frost. She held it gently, thinking back to that strange and wonderful encounter nearly four years previous. The day a man fell out of her fireplace, just to tell her that she didn't need to be afraid. To tell her that she wasn't alone.

She went over to her windowsill, beneath which sat her desk, covered in neat stacks of paper and books. She loved to read, especially stories about magical adventures and legendary heroes, stories about people like John. But more than that, this desk was where she wrote her letters to John. She knew that John probably never got the letters, but whenever she had a particularly bad day, she would go to her desk at the windowsill and write to him, then let the letter go out the window and pray that the wind would carry it to her hero and bring him back.

This was definitely a particularly bad night. Elsa snatched a slip of paper and grabbed her quill, staring at the blank page for a moment before letting the tip touch the paper, and she began to write.

 _Dear friend,_

 _It happened again. I don't know how to control it. I've tried to not be scared like you told me, but I don't know how. My parents do their best to try to help, but they don't understand. They don't know what it is like. Please come back. I need your help. I can't control it without your help. It gets worse every day. There is just too much fear, too much power. I know that you can help, but it has been so long since you were here. I don't even know if you are still there. If you are still out there, if you still care, please, come back._

 _Sincerely, Elsa_

Elsa folded up the slip of paper and pulled open her window, sending the letter out into the open air. The paper flew, carried by the wind far out of sight, to places she knew not. All she could do was pray that somehow, some way, the letter would reach her friend.

...

John fell out of the rift with a torrent of water, falling hard to the floor. The rift closed behind him, stopping the flow and leaving John sprawled across the ground, infuriated. The creature had slipped out of his grasp once again, and this time right as he was about to slay the mad beast. Kathool was nearly defeated, but if given time it would recuperate, and all of his work would be for nothing. He had to find a way to return as soon as possible and end it.

He looked around himself to see that he was standing on a sea-side cliff, waves crashing against the rocks beneath him. To one side was more ocean, the watery expanse stretching as far as the eye can see. To the other side was a large cove, a fjord, around which was built a bustling town. He couldn't see many details from his position, but the harbor appeared to be very busy, with ships both leaving and coming, and lights were on throughout the city. In the center of the fjord, connected to the mainland by a bridge, was an island, on which was situated a majestic palace. It looked familiar, but he couldn't place it.

Just then the wind picked up, and a piece of paper flew into his face. He scrambled blindly for a moment before he pulled the paper off his face and looked at it. Strangely enough, it was a letter. As he read it, his eyes widened in surprise. This letter was to him! He glanced back at the palace and realized why it was familiar. It looked different from this angle than it did from above when he was falling out of the sky, but it was definitely the same place. He couldn't believe it. The rift had taken him here yet again. Why? The rifts never seemed to have any rhyme or reason before. Why take him here again, right as this letter was flying on the wind?

It had only been a few days since he had left Elsa, but based on what he had read in the letter, it had been a lot longer for her. The tears in the universe were messing with the flow of time, and he had no way of knowing how long it had been. The poor girl. She was so lost, so desperate. She needed his help. He needed to find a way back to finish off Kathool, but right at that moment, there was a little girl that needed his help. He would have plenty of time to worry about Kathool soon enough.

Gathering his energies, John propelled himself forward, launching himself through the air towards the island palace.

...

Elsa pulled her window shut and slid to the ground, suddenly exhausted. Why did she even bother to write the letters? She always begged him to come back, and he never came. She had written so many letters, begged him to come back, prayed that he would come back, and nothing ever happened. In the end she was always alone, with no one that understood. No one that could help her.

She took the frosted rose and looked at it, remembering the day John came. She was so scared, and he was so confident, so kind. He just took the fear away. Without him, the fear was too powerful. She was so scared. John had told her that her powers were beautiful and that she wasn't a monster, but she hadn't seen any of that since he left. She had come close to hurting her parents a few times already. The gloves her dad gave her helped, but they were not enough to stop it entirely.

A knock came on her door, and her thoughts immediately went to Anna. Her little sister was the worst part. Anna didn't remember what had happened, so she didn't understand why Elsa had to stay away from her. So often Anna came to her door, asking for them to play together. Even now, after years of silence, Anna still tried, and every time she knocked on that door it broke Elsa's heart. She wanted so much to open the door, to play with her sister and have fun again, but she couldn't.

"Go away!" she cried.

Then the door opened, the lock doing nothing. In the door stood John, tall and proud, a sad smile on his face. "Hello Little Princess." He held up a slip of paper, crumpled by the wind. "I got your letter."

...

"John!"

The Adventurer was taken aback as the little girl ran up and hugged him, wrapping his legs with a tight embrace. It took him a moment, but once he got over the surprise he laughed, smiling down at the little girl and disentangling himself from her grasp. "It's good to see you too Elsa. Tell me, how long has it been?" She was still little, but time had definitely passed since he was last there. She was taller, older. But it couldn't have been that long, could it?

"Four years," she answered, a hint of anger flitting across her face, only to be replaced with desperation. "Why did you wait so long?"

 _Four years?_ John thought to himself. She had to be somewhere around twelve now. He could hardly believe it. Twelve years old. How could he have missed four years? No wonder she had been beginning to question if he would ever come back.

"I am so sorry that I was gone for so long," he told her. "I couldn't come back any sooner, or I would have. I promise you that, alright?"

"Alright."

"Come, let's sit down." John walked over to her bed and sat on it, and she jumped up and sat beside him. "So, tell me, what has been going on since I came here?"

"I tried to do what you told me to and let go of the fear. But every time my powers slip out, I almost hurt someone. My parents have tried to help, but I don't want to hurt them either." Elsa's eyes began to well up with tears as she spoke. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but I can't control it. It just spills out. Whenever I get angry, or scared, or anything, ice goes everywhere. My dad gave me these gloves," she held up her gloved hands, "and they hold it in, but anytime I take them off I can't control it. I can't even be around my sister Anna because I know that I'll hurt her like I did before."

"It's alright," he whispered reassuringly. "I understand how you feel."

She looked up at him, wiping at her wet eyes. "You do?"

"Of course. When I first got my powers, I felt the same way. I was scared that I would accidentally hurt someone, or that I would reveal my powers to someone and that they would fear me and hate me. I wanted to hold it all in and never use it. But you can't do that. You can't learn to control your power by hiding it and holding it inside. You can't conceal it, and you **need** to feel it. Your power is part of you. Hiding your powers and your fear and not letting it show isn't the way to go about it. You need to let yourself let go. Your powers are a gift. Remember the rose I gave you?"

"I have it!" she exclaimed, perking up.

John was taken aback. "Really?"

Elsa jumped off the bed and wiggled beneath it, coming back out holding the icy flower in her fingertips. "I kept it so that I wouldn't forget about you," she told him. "So that I could know that it wasn't just a dream. That you were real."

"That is amazing, Little Princess," John stated, touched by the small gesture as he examined the still-perfect bloom. "You see this rose? It isn't just evidence that me coming was real. It is also evidence that your powers can be used for good, that they can do beautiful things. Control comes with practice, and with realizing that your power is part of who you are. You can't just hold it in. You need to use it."

"But what if I hurt someone?"

John thought for a moment what to say. He wasn't going to tell her to ignore any possible danger and not care about the lives of those around her, but she also needed to understand that if she never got over her fear of her powers than she would never control them. "You can't hurt me," he said finally. "Why don't we try now? I can help you work through it."

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly.

"Undoubtedly."

...

Elsa slowly took off her gloves, her hands shaking slightly. _It's alright,_ she told herself. _John is here. He can help. You can't hurt him._ She set her gloves to the side and the two of them stepped out onto the floor, standing at the center of her room.

"Just think about something you want to make," he told her. He held out his palm and a ball of golden light blossomed above it. A second later the orb shifted, changing into a tiny, sinuous dragon which then flew around his arm and above his head before coming to rest across his shoulders, the tiny golden creature staring at her intently. "Now you try."

Elsa held her own palm out, concentrating. A large, icy snowflake appeared in the air above her hand, spinning around lazily. The light from John's dragon reflected off the snowflake in a brilliant display, transforming the simple ice into something wonderful.

"That is beautiful, Elsa," John told her encouragingly. "Now think of an image you want to create. What do you want to happen?"

She thought about that for a moment. What did she want to make? She could try to make a dragon like John did, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to make. She didn't particularly care about what the ice formed into. All she really wanted was for John to stay with her. Around him, she didn't have to be afraid. But once he left, the fear was always too strong. She just wanted John to stay with her and never leave.

The snowflake suddenly shifted, exploding into a flurry of smaller snowflakes before coming back together, shaping and forming into the image of two people. When the snow settled, standing on her palm were two tiny and incredibly detailed ice figurines. One was John, standing tall and proud in his billowing cloak and gleaming armor, his handsome face smiling down at the other figurine, his hand on the other figurine's shoulder, the other figurine being a little Elsa, beaming happily, not a hint of fear or sadness in her face. In the world of the tiny figurine Elsa, everything was perfect. Elsa's eyes widened as she realized what she had accidentally created, and she quickly looked at John to see what he thought of it.

...

John stared at the tiny ice statues for a moment, not knowing what to say. Elsa was only twelve years old, but she had lived a hard life, struggling with her powers and forced to separate herself from everyone and everything. And now, this innocent little girl had attached herself to him. She depended on him and the help he could give. He wanted to help her, he really did, but didn't know how. He didn't have enough time! Her icy creation struck his very center, and the emotion behind it brought tears to his eyes.

"It's beautiful," he told her, his voice full of emotion. "Elsa," he kneeled down and held her shoulders lightly, his golden orbs staring into her sapphire eyes. "I know that you want me to stay here with you, but I won't always be able to be here. I want to help you, I really do, but I can't always be here. But, no matter were I am, don't you ever think that I've left you alone, because I will always be with you, in here," he pointed at her chest. "I can help you learn to control your powers, but I won't always be there to help you. You will have to learn how to control it without me there."

"But what if I can't?" she asked, her voice fearful.

"You can," he assured her. "You just need to believe in yourself and let go of your fear. Once you let it go, then you will be free. Alright?"

"Alright," she agreed hesitantly. "I'll try."

"Then let's keep working." He stood back up, the dragon vanishing from his shoulders as he shook himself off and wiped his eyes. "Let's try creating something bigger. How about-"

A rift suddenly tore open on the other side of the room, a tear in the fabric of the universe right in Elsa's bedroom. _No no no!_ John exclaimed inwardly. _Not again! Not now!_ He stared at the rift, cursing his foul luck. He barely even began teaching Elsa! She needed more than just a few words. She needed more help. He needed more time. But he couldn't leave Kathool to its own devices either. If he truly wanted to help Elsa, he would have to finish it.

"What's going on?" Elsa asked, clinging to his leg in terror.

"It's okay," he told her. "Everything is going to be alright. I have to go now, but don't worry. I'll be back."

"No, don't go!"

"I have to," he told her, "but I promise you, I will come back. I don't know when I will be back, but I promise you that I will be back for you. And next time, I promise to stay longer and help you."

"Promise?" she asked, her eyes sad but hopeful.

"Promise. I'll be back for you, Little Princess." With that he stood up and conjured a flaming sword, taking off across the room and charging through the portal.

...

The portal closed behind John, leaving Elsa alone once more. Elsa grabbed the frozen rose and held it carefully. She went into her bed, falling asleep to thoughts of John. He was gone, and she was once again without his comforting presence, but this time she had a promise. He was coming back. He promised her that he was coming back. He would keep his promise, wouldn't he?

Author's Note: Feedback is always appreciated!


	4. Chapter 3

**A Thousand Years: A Frozen Tale**

 **Chapter 3**

"You'll be fine, Elsa."

Eighteen year old Elsa went through her morning routine, getting dressed, tying her hair into a bun, and making sure her gloves were on tight. She received her breakfast from Gerda, one of the chief servants, one of the only servants really, and thanked the kind woman for the meal, closing the door behind the servant and eating her food, just like she did every morning. One thing was different today however. Her parents did not come in, because they were gone, traveling by ship on a trip to the kingdom of Corona, where her aunt and uncle reigned. She knew that her parents needed to go, but that didn't make it any easier having them gone.

As she looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes drifted to the reflection of her bed, beneath which was hidden the single white rose she had kept safe. That rose had been her support for all these hard years. It had never wilted, the frost keeping it perfect all this time. The frozen rose was her only evidence that the two wonderful visits were more than just dreams, more than just her imaginations. The visits of a kind and mysterious golden-eyed hero, who had fallen out of her fireplace and told her that she wasn't a monster, the one who had given her the only hope that she had that things could be better, that she didn't have to live in fear.

She had only met him twice in her life, but her memories of the man had become her rock. Always she hung on to his promise that he would come back. When she was younger she would fantasize that he would come and take her away to some place where she wouldn't have to be afraid anymore, where she and Anna could truly be sisters again and John would be their protector. As she had grown older, her fantasies had grown more romantic, imagining the handsome hero would return and profess his undying love. But they were all fantasies. He never came back, he never returned, and at this point, Elsa doubted that he would ever do so. He had promised, but it had been six years since he made that promise, and there was no sign of him. Despite this, she couldn't bear to throw the rose away. No matter how unrealistic, there was always a small part of her that dreamed of his return.

...

 _Must we do this, Adventurer?_ came Kathool's tired thought as John strode through the deep towards where the maimed monstrosity had crawled to hide. _We have battled across time and worlds. You have bested me. Must we bring the end?_

"I can't let you continue to tear the universe apart," John told the ancient beast, unsheathing his deadly Godslayer blade. "This needs to end."

Kathool's response was sluggish, evidence of its near brush with death in their previous battle. It was tired, and at this point it could do little to defend itself. _By killing me, you kill the last remnant of the universe that was. Do you really want that? To kill the last survivor of a dead dimension? To bring a final end to an entire universe?_

"Your universe has been gone for a very long time Kathool," John replied. "By killing you, I keep this universe from facing the same fate."

 _Finish it then. End my life. I cannot stop you. Go back to that little princess of yours._

John was dumbstruck for a second, and then he was nearly overwhelmed by a flood of rage. "How do you know about her?!" he questioned. "What game are you playing, Kathool?"

The ancient evil laughed mockingly. _You and the girl are more connected than you know. Your destinies have been intertwined from the beginning._

"What do you mean?"

If Kathool could smile, it's face would have stretched into a grin. _I don't think I'll tell you that. I will die and you will be left not knowing._

"Tell me!"

 _I think not. You have already made up your mind to kill me. Knowing your past, you are not one to make bargains, and you are also not one to torture his foes, so giving you the information would not help me in any way. All I can do now is leave you with questions unanswered and doubt in your mind. Now end it, Adventurer. End it!_

John shouted and slashed with his blade, the powerful weapon cutting through flesh and bone as if through butter, slicing the giant squid creature in half. He stood there for a moment, breathing deeply as he stared at the dissected corpse. For a moment John considered letting the blade absorb Kathool's essence as it had the essences of countless pagan deities, but he withheld from it, not wanting to stain his weapon with the beast's madness. Instead he used the blade to cut open a rift in the universe and step through that rift. Now that Kathool was finally defeated once and for all, he had a promise to keep.

...

Elsa ran her fingers through the leaves of a large plant, thinking to herself as she strolled through the palace gardens. The only times she had been here before had been brief visits with her parents, but now that they were away she found it peaceful to walk among the various plants in the garden, breathing in their varied scents and looking at their many colors. She wished that she had plant-related powers instead of ice powers. If she had plant magic than she could spend all her time creating beautiful gardens, instead of worrying about hurting someone with her power.

Then something stopped her in her tracks. Standing in the center of the garden was a large rosebush in full bloom, covered in dozens of brilliant white roses. Though not frosted over, in all other ways they were exactly like the rose she had kept hidden under her bed since she was a little girl. This rosebush had not been there the last time she was in the garden.

"Hello Elsa," a voice from the shadows stated. The source of the voice slowly stepped out of the shadows, revealing a man in nobleman's attire, like the kind her father would wear, though his was a vibrant red accentuated by gold adornments. Despite the different choice of clothing, the bright smile, the handsome face, and the brilliant golden eyes, identified him as the man she has begun to think she would never see again: John. He smiled at her and asked, "Did you miss me?"

...

John had thought long and hard about what he would do upon meeting little Elsa again. He needed to let her see for herself how beautiful magic could be, and that she was far from alone in her struggle. He couldn't do that without taking her somewhere that was true. It would have to be a place resplendent with magic, but not so strange that she would be weirded out. Somewhere beautiful, wonderful, and strange, but also familiar. He knew exactly the place.

He wasn't going in armor and a cloak this time either. He was not coming as a warrior, or even as a hero, but as a friend and mentor. He made sure to dress in more appropriate clothing for the occasion. Something less battle-ready and more refined, something little Elsa would be familiar with.

He transported himself to the palace at Arendelle, silent and unseen as he searched around the place, before long discovering the gardens. _Perfect._ He softly reached out with his magic to the soil, tendrils of golden energy flowing out of his outstretched hand, and within moments his will was done, a rosebush covered in white roses blooming into existence. Right when this finished he heard the door to the gardens open, and he quickly finished his spell, hiding himself in the shadows.

Within a few minutes someone stopped before his roses, frozen in their tracks. He reached out with his mind to make sure, and sure enough, it was Elsa. He grinned at the thought of the look on the little girl's face when he popped out of the shadows. "Hello Elsa," he said, walking out of the shadows. He grinned and asked, "Did you miss me?" Then his grin faltered as he saw the girl before him. She was tall, her platinum hair pulled into a bun, her beautiful sapphire eyes wide, her body far from that of a little girl. "Princess," he said, shocked, "you aren't little anymore." She wasn't the little girl he had first met only days before. She was a young woman, and a beautiful one at that. He didn't know what to say. He was dumbstruck.

"John?" Elsa asked. "Is that really you?"

"It's really me, Princess. I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner. But I promised you I would be back, so I did."

"You look exactly like you did the day I first met you ten years ago," she told him. "How is that possible?"

"I travel through time," John explained. "Sometimes I miss the mark a bit and don't get to exactly the time that I want to."

"Travel though time?" Elsa asked, her eyes wide with wonder. "What wonders do you see? How would that be, to walk between centuries?"

John smiled at her. "Why don't you let me show you?"

"What?"

"Come with me." He held out his hand to her. "I promised to help you learn how to control your powers. Let me take you somewhere you won't have to be afraid. Somewhere with others like you and I." For a moment there was silence, and Elsa simply stared at his hand. "Will you come with me?"

There was a struggle in her eyes, her desire to go with him fighting with her fear of the unknown. Finally, her desire overcame her fear, and she reached out and took his hand. "I will."

...

They materialized in a mountain pass, somewhere green and alive. Everything smelled new, and there were shades of green she hadn't seen since she was a little girl. Being locked in a room for ten years, one didn't exactly have many opportunities to roll around in the grass. "What is this place?" she asked, still slightly disoriented from being suddenly transported away from her home.

John's answering smile was mischievous. "Follow me and you'll see." He led the way and Elsa followed after him, confused but excited. They hiked up and out of the pass, finally cresting at the highest point of the pass, looking down on the world below. And looking down below them, she saw an unimaginable sight.

It was a city, but it was unlike any city she had ever seen. Majestic spires stretched towards the sky, the structures beautiful and strong, and the streets below were filled with frenzied activity. It was too far away to see exactly what was happening, the city had a life, an energy unlike anything she had felt before. "What is that place?" she asked.

"That, Princess, is the legendary the wizard city of Dalaran."

Elsa's eyes widened. Did that mean what she thought it meant? "Wizard city?"

John's knowing smirk told her that he knew exactly what she was thinking. "Oh yeah." He snapped his fingers and they vanished.

Elsa's senses were almost overwhelmed as they appeared in the center of the city. The sights, the sounds, the smells, _oh my goodness, the smells!_ They were all too much for her to handle. The people were dressed in tunics and robes of every imaginable color, from forest greens and frigid blues to fiery reds and deep violet. They wore hats and hoods of all kinds, boots and sandals and slippers, clothing that resulted in effects from the obscenely ridiculous to the dangerously mysterious. There were squawks and screeches and all manner of noises from cages and pens containing the strangest of animals, some of which appeared to be mixes of completely different creatures, while others seemed like they had to have been from some other world entirely. There were the cries of vendors, the chink of coins, and the crackling of energy in the air. She could smell food of all varieties, from the common to the exotic, but even the common foods had a wonderful addition to their smell, something that she could only describe as the touch of magic.

"What is all this?" Elsa asked lightheadedly, the combined sights, sounds, and smells nearly intoxicating.

"This is the Bazar, in Dalaran's main square," John answered. "It's where all the vendors sell their goods. There is a lot of stuff here for those who come seeking to see the legendary city, but the wizards themselves generally go elsewhere for their regents. Come on, let me take you somewhere quieter."

He led her through the streets, out of the main square. As they walked Elsa gazed around them at all the strange and wonderful sights, at wizards with tall pointed hats walking while reading through large tomes, at cowled wizards followed by watery elemental servants, at mages with long, gnarled staffs, mages with short, thin wands, and mages that required neither, staring at wizards and mages of all kinds. There was so much magic around them, Elsa could hardly believe it. This wasn't like Arendelle, where she was the only one with powers. Here it seemed like almost everyone had magic. As they walked they passed people using magic for the most common of chores, enchanted brooms sweeping the floors, tables being set with the wave of a hand, and even miniature storm clouds providing water for private gardens.

Finally they moved out of the press of the streets and found a collection of public gardens, large trees providing shade on benches while varied flowers filled the air with their perfumes. "This place is amazing!" Elsa exclaimed, her heart pounding. She spun around, laughing giddily. "Everyone here is like me! Like us! And nobody is afraid!"

"They aren't afraid because they know that there is nothing to be afraid of. Dalaran is a city built by wizards for wizards. Magical adepts and students of the mystic arts come here to the Academy of Dalaran to study magic and learn how to control it. They get tutelage from some of the greatest wizards in this world."

"Do you think I could go here?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"I am sure they would love to have someone as gifted as you. You would have to explain all of this to your parents and talk to them about it, but I am sure they would have no problem with it. They do want you to learn to control your powers, after all."

"Wait..." she said, suddenly hesitant. "What about you? Where will you go?"

"What are you talking about? I plan on staying right here with you. You do need an instructor, after all."

"Oh thank you!" she cried, suddenly wrapping him in a tight hug. John tightened up for a moment, but before long he relaxed, hugging her back softly. Elsa was so happy, she couldn't contain it. She wouldn't have to be afraid anymore!

"Come on," he whispered, untangling himself from her. "There's more to see."

The rest of the day went by in a whirlwind. Elsa saw libraries filled with mystic tomes, laboratories where alchemists worked on their potions, and workstations where enchanters imbued items with magical energy. She saw mages flying around on clouds and carpets and even massive flying beasts. John took her on a tour of the entire city, from the Bazar to the Academy to the Violet Citadel, where the leaders of the city, the Kirin Tor, resided. She even saw the garrison for the city guard and the prison, where dangerous magical creatures were locked away. It was such an amazing and astonishing place, and the thought of living here was almost too good to be true.

All of this was like a dream. She had found a place where she wouldn't have to be afraid of hurting anyone or worry about anyone being afraid of her. She could learn how to control her powers without having to worry about concealing it and not feeling it. And most impossible of all, John, her handsome, mysterious hero, had come to stay.

They stopped and sat down by a wishing well, saying nothing for a minute, just enjoying the moment. It was all so perfect, and it was even more perfect because John was here with her. In all her wildest fantasies, she had never imagined that all this could happen. She looked over at John and found him looking at her, their eyes meeting. She got lost within the golden depths of his eyes, their beautiful metallic hue drawing her in, and before she could stop herself she leaned in towards him and kissed him.

...

John sighed happily as he sat on the edge of the wishing well by Elsa. The day had gone off perfectly. He had been right, Dalaran was exactly the place Elsa needed to go. He had surprised himself by offering to tutor her there, but he planned to stick to it. Dalaran would be the perfect place for her to learn, and he wanted to be there for her every step of the way. He cared about her too much to do otherwise.

He turned and looked at Elsa, examining the thoughtful expression on her face. It was hard to imagine that this beautiful young woman was the same little girl he had met what seemed like only days ago. She had grown so much since then, and had become her own person. Looking at her now, he wasn't sure what to feel. When he looked at her he saw that little eight-year old girl, but he couldn't ignore that she wasn't that little girl anymore. She was young, beautiful, and vibrant, and looking at her made his heart pang for something, but he didn't know what.

Then she turned and looked at him, their eyes connecting. Her sapphire spheres delved into him, and it felt like she was staring into his soul. He was caught off-guard, unfamiliar with being on the receiving end of that sensation. Then, before he knew what was happening, she leaned in and kissed him. She pulled away quickly, and John breathed out, the air misting as he did so. For a second Elsa stared at him, her eyes questioning, wondering, afraid. John fought within himself for a moment, asking himself if this was what he truly wanted. But of course he already knew the answer to that question. He had known Elsa practically her whole life, and after today, he knew that he didn't want to let her go. Not hesitating, he leaned in close and pulled her into another kiss.

...

Elsa's eyes widened as John pulled her back in for another kiss. She hadn't been sure what his reaction would be to her kiss, but the one she got was definitely better than she had expected. She closed her eyes and kissed him back, immersing herself in the kiss. In that moment, she was happier than she had been in a very long time. Finally John pulled away, and it was all too soon for her.

"How long have you been waiting for that?" John asked with a smile.

Elsa smiled back. "A lifetime."

John reached out his hand and Elsa took it, intertwining their fingers together. They stood up together and walked off, both of them smiling happily. They walked into the night, fingers interlocked the whole time, stopping inside the gardens to sit down. Elsa stared off into the night, a giddy smile on her face. "Today was perfect," she whispered, leaning her head on John's shoulder.

"It was," John agreed. "But now we need to take you home."

"You are gonna stay, aren't you?" she asked, a tinge of worry entering her voice.

"I need to do some preparations for you to start your training here," he explained, "but I promise I won't be gone long." He gave her a little half smile. "I'm pretty sure I've got a good fix on you now. We won't have the same problem again. I promise you, I will always return for you."

Elsa nodded. "Alright. Just don't be gone long."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Elsa reached up to touch his face, but when she did so she realized that her glove was not there. Feeling a stab of panic, she looked at her other hand and saw that her other glove was gone too. "Where are my gloves?!" she exclaimed.

John smiled knowingly, holding up her gloves. "Right here. I took them off when we first teleported here. You haven't been wearing them the entire day."

Elsa was stunned. She had become so used to wearing the gloves, having them be her constant help to control her powers. The idea that she had gone through an entire day of not wearing them and had no problems was astonishing.

"You see?" he asked. "Fear is the only thing holding you back."

The world twisted around them as John transported her back home. He gave her a quick kiss, promising to be back as soon as possible before vanishing. When he was gone Elsa sprawled across her bed, grinning wide, her whole body suffused with a warm glow. Everything was perfect. She unbound her hair and ran her hands through it, letting it fall free over her shoulders, sprawling across the mattress. She had just had the best day of her life, and the next day promised to be better.

 _What would Anna think about all this?_ she wondered. She felt another rush of excitement then and jumped out of her bed. She didn't have to be afraid anymore. John was going to teach her how to control her powers, in a place where everyone was like her! She wanted to run to Anna's room right then and tell her all about everything that had happened. She wanted to apologize for hiding from her all these years, and she wanted to share with her the wonderful news. Deciding not to wait, she rushed to the door, only to open it and see Kai, the royal steward, standing there, a forlorn look on his face. Elsa's face immediately fell, the expression on Kai's face filling her with dread. _What is it? What is wrong?_

"Princess Elsa," Kai told her gently. "I have learned some unfortunate news. It's your parents."


	5. Chapter 4

**A Thousand Years: A Frozen Tale**

 **Chapter 4**

"It's your parents."

John had never felt this way before. It was strange, realizing the little girl he first met and encouraged and the beautiful young woman he had kissed were the same person, but it didn't change the way he felt. He had known her at nearly every stage of her life, and he knew how much he cared for her. He didn't know exactly where all this would go, but he was willing to try it out. He had arranged for Elsa to join the academy at Dalaran, with him as her instructor. Most couldn't make such a thing happen, and even fewer could arrange for it in such a short time, but his position within the Council of Six, the secret group that led the Kirin Tor, allowed him to do such.

He smiled to himself as he transported himself to Elsa's room in the palace at Arendelle, conjuring a vibrant red rose into existence in his hand. "Elsa!" he called. "I've got great news!" He was struck silent when he caught sight of Elsa, crying by her closed doorway. "What's going on?"

She looked up at him, frozen tears on her face. "My parents are dead," she whispered. "While I was running off with you, their ship was swallowed by the sea."

John's heart ached for her. "I am so sorry," he told her. "I know how hard it is to lose a loved one."

Suddenly a thought came to Elsa's mind, and a spark of desperate hope lit up in her eyes. "You said that you are a time traveler, right?"

"Yes..." John answered, worried that he knew where this was headed.

"Then you can save them!" Elsa exclaimed. "You can go back to before they died and save them!"

"I can't do that," John said sorrowfully.

"And why not?! They're my parents!"

"I can't change the past. What has happened, has happened. If I were to try to go back and stop your parents from dying when they were supposed to, it could tear the universe apart."

"I don't care!" she screamed, frost beginning to spread from her, icy mist entering the room. "They're my parents!"

John felt miserable. Elsa was in so much pain, but he couldn't help her. Not in the way she wanted. He had learned long ago to never try to change the past. "I can't do it. I just can't."

"You told me you cared about me!" she cried, icy energy swirling around her. "You told me you wanted to help me! Help me now! Save my parents! You can save them! Why won't you save them?!"

"You know why I can't do it," he answered softly. "It can't be done. Man wasn't meant to change the past. Was has happened is set in stone."

"No!" An blast of cold and ice exploded from her, covering half the room in frost. Snowflakes hung suspended in the air, frozen in time. All her anger used up, Elsa began to sob quietly, sliding down the doorway and dropping to the ground. "Go away," she whispered.

"What?"

"Go away and never come back. I never want to see your face again."

"Elsa, I-"

"No!" her eyes burned into his. "I don't want to have anything to do with you, or your beautiful lies. Just leave."

John realized that there was no way out of this. She was in too much pain. "Alright," he told her. "If that is what you want, then I will go." He cast a quick spell, keeping Elsa's frosty energy contained within the room, so that she could grieve in peace. He took the red rose in his hand and laid it on the ground next to her, giving her a sad smile before he vanished.

...

Elsa stared at the rose for several moments before picking it up lightly. She breathed on it lightly, and frost covered the rose, sparkling crystals covering the crimson petals. She clutched it close to her chest, hiding it from sight. She wished she hadn't screamed at John, hadn't told him to leave. She wanted to hug him and cry into his shoulder and have him tell her that it would be alright. But it wouldn't be alright. It would never be alright.

Outside her doorway, Elsa heard footsteps, and then someone sitting on the other side, nonfrozen side of the door. "Elsa? Please, I know you're in there," came Anna's sad voice. "People are asking where you've been. They say have courage, and I'm trying to. I'm right out here for you, just let me in. We only have each other, it's just me and you. What are we gonna do?" Her voice caught, before she asked the familiar question: "Do you want to build a snowman?"

Elsa had no answer. She wanted to run out and hug her sister, tell her that she was there for her, but she couldn't. She had just severed her only line of control. With both John and her parents gone, she had no one to help her control her powers. She was lost. So she didn't open the door. Instead she merely sat there and cried silently, wallowing in her grief.


	6. Chapter 5

**A Thousand Years: A Frozen Tale**

 **Chapter 5**

"Love will thaw."

Elsa smiled hopefully as she stared out into the crowd gathered in the palace courtyard. "Are you ready?" The crowd cheered gleefully. She paused for a moment before she swallowed her fear and stamped her foot on the ground, ice spreading out from the impact. There were gasps of shock and excitement, but no fear. Smiling broader, she transformed the water fountains on either side of her into beautiful ice sculptures with a wave of each hand, before shooting a ball of icy magic into the sky that exploded into a shower of snowflakes. All around were sounds of excitement and happiness, with not a single sign of fear or hatred.

It was hard to believe that all these years, the answer had been so simple. It had taken her sister, the ever loving, ever fearless Anna, to show her that truth. Love will thaw. Now she didn't need to be afraid anymore. Everyone knew about her power and they still loved her. She had finally been able to accept herself, just like John had tried to teach her.

As she skated, laughed, and played with her sister and newfound friends, this came back into her mind. She hadn't thought of John for quite some time, as she had tried to drive all thoughts of him from her mind. She wondered then what he would think about what had happened, and about how she had changed. She was a very different person from the scared girl he had first met, or even the eighteen year old girl who had told him to never come back. Seeing how happy Anna and Kristoff were together, she wished could go back and time and change it, keep herself from pushing him away.

Just then she turned around the fountain and was stunned, as she saw a man standing among the crowd, dressed in red and gold, his eyes an impossible golden hue. In her shock she wasn't paying attention to her feet and she slid on the ice, only for a strong pair of arms to grab her. She looked up at the owner of those arms and saw the impossible. John was there, smiling down at her as he kept her from hitting the ground.

"Hello again Princess," he told her with a little half smile. "Long time no see."

Elsa's heart raced in her chest, and her face grew flushed, her cheeks turning a rosy red. She didn't know how to react. Here he was again, when she thought she had driven him away for good. Staring into his eyes again, it was like that night had never happened, and they were once again in that perfect day, with that perfect kiss...

"Elsa, hello, earth to Elsa?" Anna's voice broke her from the trance and she turned back to look at her sister, whose eyes were flitting between Elsa and John, a poorly-hidden smile on her face. "Why don't you introduce me to your new friend?"

"My name is John," John answered, bowing to her. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Princess Anna."

"Why thank you," Anna replied, her grim becoming even harder to disguise as it stretched across her face. "I think I'll let you too talk for a bit. I'll just be over here if you need me." She skated off and immediately went to Kristoff, whispering animatedly to him.

"Well isn't she positively giddy," John stared with a laugh.

"Don't encourage her," Elsa groaned, rubbing her forehead. "I'm going to have to deal with this for days now."

He chuckled at that and she smiled back, and for a moment it was perfect again. Then John's face turned serious. "I'm sorry for all that happened Elsa. I-"

"You don't need to apologize," she interrupted. "It wasn't your fault. I understand now that if you could have done something, you would. It was my fault. I'm the one that threw you out and pushed you away. After all that, why did you come back? I am so happy that you did, but what made you want to come back?"

"I made you a promise, didn't I?" John reminded her. "I will always come back for you." He held out his hand and she took it without hesitation, lacing her fingers into his. Making a glance towards where Anna and Kristoff were attempting to inconspicuously stare at them, Elsa and John strode off, their hands and hearts together.

They walked the halls of the palace, going through the ballroom and the gardens. As they walked they spoke, John telling Elsa about the adventures he had been on since they split, while Elsa told him about how Anna had helped her come to realize the truth of her powers. When she told him about Hans and what he had done, John wanted to go to the Southern Isles that very instant and teach him a lesson, but Elsa was able to calm him down and dissuade him from that course of action. "He is getting what he deserves," she assured him.

They stopped in Elsa's room, where Elsa took out the two frozen roses, one white, one red. "You kept them both," John whispered, touched.

"Like I could do anything else," Elsa countered with a half smile. "They were my only reminder of you." She took a vase and emptied the flowers that were formerly inside, replacing them with the two frosted flowers.

"They look much better in that vase than they do hiding under your bed," John told her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"And your lips would look much better next to mine than they do with you talking."

John's half smile matched her own. "As my Princess commands." He reached down and lifted her up into the air, pulling her into a soft, slow kiss.

"I'm a queen now, just so you know," Elsa told him when their lips parted.

"You may be their queen, but you will always be my Princess."

After the kiss they returned to the courtyard, where John said his goodbyes once more. "Do you really have to go again?" Elsa asked. "You just came back."

"It will only be for a little while," he promised. "Besides, I can't just stay here all the time. We can't let people start to spread rumors about the two of us. You have a reputation to uphold. Besides, a queen like you needs to be courted. Flowers, chocolate, teaching you how to use your powers, the whole nine yards. Then, if you still want me, we can have a big fancy wedding."

"Well, I do love chocolate."

"It's settled then," John told her. "I'll be back soon Princess. Never forget, I will always return for you." With he walked off into the crowd, and within seconds he was gone.

"You and John seem pretty close." Elsa spun around to see Anna standing behind her, grinning widely. "Don't I remember you saying something about men you just met?"

Elsa smiled back at her sister. "Oh Anna," she told her, "I've known that man my whole life."

"What?" Anna asked, suddenly confused.

"Come on," Elsa took her sister's arm and led her to somewhere a little more private. "Let me tell you a story. It started when you and I were still little girls..."

 **THE END**


End file.
